There are kitchens where many meals have been prepared and others where water has yet to be boiled.

But the people who make this year's Art in the Kitchen tour will certainly be inspired by the local kitchens chosen by the Women's Committee of The Westmoreland Museum of American Art for the 12th such fundraising event. The tour is set for Oct. 6.

There are seven stops on the tour, five in existing houses, one in a model home and one at the Manor House Granite Factory in Greensburg, where granite and marble fixtures for kitchens and bathrooms are created. At each stop several members of the committee act as hostesses and guides and serve an especially prepared goodie, such as banana cake, Potato Chip Cookies or Fruited Mint Tea, from the committee's Art in the Kitchen cookbook.

Each kitchen is unique, Women's Committee president Kathleen Hollahan said.

The tour is traditionally held in the fall to take advantage of the beauty of the season, so tourgoers should see plenty of scenery during the 40-mile round trip route that starts at the Westmoreland Museum in Greensburg and winds through areas of that city, as well as through Latrobe and Ligonier.

"It's a wonderful drive and [participants] get to see marvelous kitchens," Ms. Hollahan said.

Like the one in Dr. Mike and Terry Zorch's 4-year old Unity house, which they designed for flow, for space and to recall the best of the farmhouse kitchen in which Mrs. Zorch grew up. It has a breakfast nook, the expected modern appliances and counter space and an unexpected addition: a pantry, in which there's a freezer filled with their homegrown produce, a sink, lots of cupboard space and a genuine Hoosier-style cabinet that they actually use. Hoosier cabinets were free-standing precursors of built in cabinetry that were used to keep kitchen essentials in one place.

When they began to design their new house, Mrs. Zorch said she had specific ideas in mind when it came to the perfect kitchen. One was the addition of a pantry, a real convenience she remembers from growing up.

"I do like to cook," Mrs. Zorch said. So having ingredients on hand and the room to use them is a joy for her.

The sixth-grade teacher at nearby Mountain View Elementary School has been known to cook a big dinner, such as lasagna or pork roast with sauerkraut, the night before she plans to serve it just because she likes to have home-cooked meals for her family, no matter her own, her husband's or her daughters' schedules.

Dr. Zorch is an emergency room physician at Latrobe Hospital. One daughter, Rebecca, has just recently moved into her own place in Greensburg, but their other daughter, Laura, who is marketing and development assistant for the Westmoreland Museum, lives at home.

Ms. Hollahan said when the committee was searching for this year's tour participants, Laura volunteered her parents. "Laura said 'My parents have two kitchens,' so they were included," Ms. Hollahan said. Laura was alluding to the pantry.

Other tour stops include a kitchen inspired by the owners' time spent in California and Baja Sur, Mexico; a house with three kitchens, including a fully-equipped one outdoors; and one in an artist's home in Ligonier, where the studio will also be open.

The tours will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $25 before the event and can be purchased at the museum, at Miss Maddie's Gifts & More and The Earnest Gourmet in Greensburg and at Amica in Ligonier. Day-of-event tickets will be available for $30 at the museum between 9 a.m. and noon.

Each of the homeowners whose kitchens will be featured contributed a family recipe for the event.

The Zorches provided Cinnamon Love Knots, a recipe Rebecca Zorch found on the Internet, but one that reminds Mrs. Zorch of her grandmother's homemade cinnamon rolls.

Mrs. Zorch said her grandmother's rolls are a bit of work and have icing on them. The Love Knots are rolled in sugar and cinnamon only, but pack nearly all of the flavor of the old-fashioned rolls, she said.

"They're great for breakfast," she said, and a big favorite when company stays over.